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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25555378">Underground</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightningCircuit/pseuds/LightningCircuit'>LightningCircuit</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tokyo Ghoul</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Clubbing, Ghouls, Jealousy, M/M, Not Canon Compliant</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:34:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,887</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25555378</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightningCircuit/pseuds/LightningCircuit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Pride 2020.<br/>Day 7: Underground</p><p>Tsukiyama gives Kanae the night off where he runs into the one ghoul he doesn't want to see.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kanae von Rosewald/Naki, Kaneki Ken | Sasaki Haise/Tsukiyama Shuu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Underground</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was always “Take the night off, Kanae” and “Spend some time with ghouls your own age, Kanae”, but no one ever thought that maybe he didn’t want to spend time with anyone. Maybe he liked cleaning and running errands for his cousin. Maybe he liked not being around ghouls “his own age”. Shuu wasn’t even that much older. </p><p>Alas, there wasn’t much use for arguing. It seemed as if he was stuck out of the manor for the evening. He wasn’t proud of finding himself in one of the many back alley clubs that the … lesser ghoul community fancied. Kanae found out quickly that he stuck out like a sore thumb. No one seemed to care how they looked and as the purple-haired youth took a seat at the bar, his eyes roamed the room. His head was full of criticisms that would be too rude to ever leave his mouth.</p><p>Kanae murmured his “thank you”s in German and Japanese when the drink landed in front of him, and his attention became focused on it. Maybe if he drank it slow enough, he could go home when it was done. Each sip was completed by him dabbing the rich red liquid off his thin lips. He stared into the glass while listening to the conversations around him. </p><p>That’s when a familiar voice caused him to sink in his seat. The expletives rolled off his tongue in every language he knew as he peaked over his shoulder, peering through lavender strands to see the one ghoul he would pay to never have to see again. </p><p>Kaneki Ken. The love of his cousin’s life. The one-eyed ghoul whose name couldn’t be kept out of Tsukiyama’s mouth. The rat that couldn’t keep his mouth off of his cousin.</p><p>To imagine being so thrilled to deal with that freak. Kanae’s eyebrows pushed inwards with his nose twitching in disgust. It came to no surprise that he was at a filthy club like this with all his disgusting, degenerate friends. </p><p>He tried to focus on his drink but he kept stealing glances, trying to figure out who he was with. One of the ghouls that seemed attached to his hip had long, fiery hair and bounced all over the place but kept finding herself swinging off a ghoul covered in tattoos and piercings, as well as half her size. </p><p>Kanae narrowed his eyes, leaning back to try and hear what she was yelling about. His eyes were locked on the object of Tsukiyama’s affections. He hadn’t even realized he was showing teeth until Kaneki’s eyes found his, and he scrambled to spin around on his stool, pulling his drink close. His head ducked down, but he knew these actions were in vain. </p><p>Their eyes met.</p><p>And his footsteps were approaching. Their footsteps were approaching.</p><p>“Kanae, hey! I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” He took the seat beside him, because of course he did.</p><p>Kanae pried his face away from his glass, dabbed his lips, and offered a smile, “Oh, Kaneki. Shuu isn’t with me this evening, if you were looking for him. He doesn’t spend his time in filth-ridden holes like this.” His smile never faltered, but neither did Kaneki. Was he mocking him internally? Normally, he wouldn’t be in this kind of place, either. His cheeks burned with red as he realized he basically announced he knew it was a disgusting bar and still spent time here. </p><p>When he didn’t!</p><p>Before the German man could correct the clear and outrageous misunderstanding, Kaneki was laughing. He already started mocking him, and Kanae couldn’t stop the heat from filling his face.</p><p>“Filth-ridden hole is probably the nicest thing that Tsukiyama would say about this place. I can hear it now!” He continued giggling, glancing at his companions, “Must be nice to take the night off. I wish I could say I was staying long, but I just came to meet up with these two over something…” A shrug was given.</p><p>“Oh, don’t worry, I won’t be staying long either…” Kanae grumbled before flashing another toothy smile, “I just came for one singular drink. I wouldn’t spend more time than I had to…” </p><p>“Well, you gonna be here long enough to meet an… acquaintance of mine? I saw him checking you out, and I can already feel the tantrum--” He stopped to snort, “If I don’t introduce you two while I’m still here.”</p><p>The pierced ghoul spoke up, “First of all, we are friends. Second of all, I was only looking at him because Itori said he was looking at us.” His voice was smooth and Kanae felt captivated by it, if only for a single second before realizing his “interest” was nonexistent. </p><p>Ken gave a light shove to the ghoul, “Not you, Uta. You remember Naki?” </p><p>Both ‘Itori’ and ‘Uta’ swung their heads over to gawk in shock. Who was this Naki? And did he really want to meet him if he garnered that reaction from the two of them? Maybe they were just shocked with how normal he was compared to the one-eyed ghoul’s entourage. </p><p>“Don’t make faces, you two. Naki and I have been talking more lately, and he’s really not that bad,” explained Kaneki before landing his attention back on Kanae, “Ignore these two. Naki is a bit… sensitive, that’s all.” </p><p>Kanae swallowed back, “I suppose I can indulge your friend.” He didn’t feel as if he had a choice. God forbid he be rude to Kaneki and it comes out later to Tsukiyama. He froze in place when Kaneki dusted past him, hand brushing against his back. He murmured something and disappeared into the crowd. </p><p>The other two ghouls rushed right into Kanae’s face with smirks.<br/>“I’m pretty sure anyone who hooks up with him ends up dead,” snorted Itori.</p><p>Uta added, “Kaneki is crazy. He must want you gone if he’s introducing you to Naki.” </p><p>Kanae looked up with haste, hand trembling while holding his glass, “What’s that supposed to mean? What do you mean ‘hooking up’?” Despite his proficiency in Japanese, he didn’t get some of the slang these people used. </p><p>It finally clicked in Itori’s head, “Oh, you’re not Japanese, are you? Not from here, anyways. I should’ve noticed right away!” She grabbed his face suddenly and examined it, “You definitely look like a Tsukiyama, but let me guess, from Europe?” </p><p>Kanae was on his feet in an instant, scrambling away from the woman. He couldn’t let his identity be found out like this. In an effort to create some distance, he started walking backwards, and that landed him right into another ghoul.</p><p>The two crumpled to the ground with squeaks. He saw Kaneki’s shoes, and it reminded him that this man was the bane of his existence. Kanae rolled off of the other ghoul and scrambled to his knees.</p><p>“You have my greatest apologies--” Kanae bowed his head before pushing to his feet. He extended a hand, and when the ghoul grabbed it, he was startled. He helped him off his ass and couldn’t help but murmur, “You are beautiful…” </p><p>The blonde-haired ghoul pulled himself from the ground. He wiped his eyes and fixed his hair that was slicked back to stay out of his eyes that were caked in make-up. Just like Kanae, he was dressed in a way that wasn’t becoming a club like this. A clean, white suit … and when the words rolled off of Kanae’s lips, his head tilted to the side, “What?” </p><p>Kanae jerked his head, realizing he wasn’t speaking in Japanese. </p><p>“That sounds like gibberish--” Naki snorted with laughter, “How drunk are you, mister!” His voice was high-pitched, full of glee, and something else… he sniffled and blinked harshly. </p><p>“Did I hurt you?” He remembered to speak Japanese this time. Their hands were still interlocked with the man’s and he rubbed his smooth skin with his thumb. </p><p>The man tried to play off the beginning of tears, and Kanae had to give it to him. He played it off well, swallowing back any reaction to the fall with that smile. That big, friendly smile… and he inhaled before shaking his head. The hair that wasn’t slicked back swung from side to side. It was dramatic as all hell, but Kanae couldn’t help laughing.</p><p>For these few moments, it felt as if they were the only two in this bar. </p><p>Kaneki’s voice brought him back as he introduced them. This was Naki. His acquaintance who was apparently not someone the other two ghouls were fond of. ‘They must have been jealous’ is what Kanae decided for this man, Naki, had class, had looks, he imagined he must’ve had money too. </p><p>Naki sandwiched Kanae’s bony hand in-between his pudgier ones. He tilted his head to the side, strands of blonde falling in front of his rounded cheeks. His eyes closed with how big he was smiling, “Kanae, it’s great to meet you!” </p><p>“You’re Naki, oh. Naki, I am happy to make your acquaintance! I heard you wanted to meet me, may I ask why?” Kanae tilted his head thoughtfully, leaning in to hear Naki better.</p><p>Naki leaned in until their noses touched and announced, “I think you’re adorable! Such a handsome man!” </p><p>Oh, there went his cheeks again, flushing the deepest red. No one had ever called him adorable like that. It had always been in a diminutive way, but for once, he didn’t feel as if he was only being seen for his soft features. His heart started pounding quicker. </p><p>“You’re very handsome yourself. I’m startled to see someone dressed so well in here,” Kanae found his mouth was getting drier by the second.</p><p>Naki blinked and looked down at his outfit, “What’s wrong with my suit?” </p><p>“Oh, nothing, you look very nice!” Kanae was quick to correct before nearly begging, “Would you like to sit with me? Have a drink?” but before Naki could answer, he suggested, “Why don’t we go somewhere quieter?” </p><p>Naki shrugged, “My apartment is nearby, wanna go?” </p><p>“Please,” replied Kanae. </p><p>He glanced to say departing words to Kaneki but he was already gone. His eyebrow perked up, but he didn’t mind that much. An arm was offered to Naki and the two took off.</p><p>Kaneki was already heading back to Uta’s tattoo parlor, walking in-between Itori and Uta.</p><p>“What was that all about, Ken?” Uta unlocked the shop and welcomed the two ghouls in.</p><p>“Kanae will not get off Tsukiyama’s ass. I swear, that kid has a thing for his cousin, and I don’t fuck with that American bullshit,” Kaneki laughed and crossed his arms over his chest, “And come on, don’t you think they’ll get along?”<br/>“Either, they’ll get along or both upset each other and end up in tears,” Itori pointed at Ken’s face as she walked by him.</p><p>“Does this mean you’re going over to Tsukiyama’s now that you’re done with us?” Uta stroked his chin and leaned in to examine Ken’s face, “It’s almost like you like the creep or something.”</p><p>Kaneki pouted, “I don’t like him like that but once you get past the whole… his whole personality, he’s kinda nice. And at the very least, he’s a good fuck.” </p><p>“I love this new Kaneki that tells us all his dirty, little secrets!” Itori clapped her hands.</p>
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